a long weekend in shanghai - part 2

the first night we ate in the french concession area...near the american consulate. it was supposed to be a tapas bar/restaurant. although the street the restaurant was on looked a bit shabby, the restaurant had a wide selection of wine, some dishes we had missed, some dishes that reminded us of turkish restaurants in islington in london (:D). seafood / fish dishes were very good though i was not sure about the aubergine dip. it tasted like a kind of stir fried chinese dish!

azul tapas lounge
www.azulviva.com





found some japanaese footsteps! an american expat mentioned a japanese department store, sogo (久光 in chinese /そごう in japanese ).
address:上海南京西路1618号
tel:86-21-32174838
of course I directly got downstairs to visit the food market in the basement!
we had the 2nd breakfast of the day at yamazaki bakery there.




found another japanese department store, "isetan" too!



found a "fitness first" gym, a company I taught classes for four years in south east england!



i love this kind of stuff in china!
is that nike logo or not??



I saw many, many beautiful western influenced buildings in the city but many of them didn't look like being well looked after. this building is a bit different to the others.





i met up with a friend of mine (who's a british man living in shanghai at the moment for his job) at a bar called kabb in a very trendy spot of the city (XinTianDi Plaza). in front of the bar there was a very beautiful historic building. apparently the building used to be mao's HQ in those days. the spot could have been anywhere...could be on a greek island, could be somewhere in south france or spain, etc. it had a very european feel even if we were having qing tao beer! sorry i didn't take any photos of the area. but in this website...you can view many photos of the area, have a look!
http://www.mahooshanghai.com/all/shanghai/tore/pic3.html
afterwards we went to an irish pub near the american consulate. it was a huge warp! once we stepped into the pub it was just like a pub in the uk! of course i had some cider. others had guiness, why not?

on the following late morning the british friend took us for brunch on the 7th floor of this building.



yes we were tourists! took a table on the balcony even though it was very hazy outside!



quote from CHINA DAILY 4/MAY/2007
"glamour bar
shanghai''s most glamorous cocktail locale features electric-pink glow lights, vintage fittings and silver=screen chic. set below its big-sister restaurant, the equally classy M on the Bund....(yes we went to "M on the Bund)"

i think the menu accommodates everybody. many attractive starters were on the menu.

M on the Bund url:
http://www.m-restaurantgroup.com/

the building next door to the one we went was known as "three on the bund". on the ground level is Giorgio Armani. it has a fine restaurant too.

i was looking down on him from the balcony at "M on the Bund"!





having paid 2 rmb for the ferry trip to across the river. here we came to the other side of the river. our plan was to go to the bar at one of the the highest buildings in the world.
the scene i saw just after i got off the ferry was very earthy. again many people were trying to sell all sorts of foods, cheap toys, etc. it was not a scene you usually see near a Grand Hyatt!




wherever you go in a city like shanghai or beijing..you cannot run away from people and skyscrapers.

the middle one is the building that had the bar on the 87th floor.




have a drink or not to have a drink
there were countless big coaches in front of the hotel. countless people kept getting out of them. there was a long queue that led you to the 88th floor for the sky view.



otherwise..take the main entrance to go to the hotel reception. change the lift to get to 85th floor and change the lift again to get to the 87th floor.

view from the bar



on sunday early afternoon we got into a cab for the airport.
i was nervous enough to sit in a cab. again the driver was mad! look he didn't even have a rearviewmirror! the barricade was cracked. i was scared!



we arrived at the airport in one piece. phew. our flight was delayed only two hours due to a mechanical problem they said.